d
not err on the side of modesty!

Curiously enough, the very day--February 28th, 1832--on which Balzac
wrote to accept the offer of the Marquise de Castries' friendship, was
the day that the first letter from L'Etrangere reached him. At first
sight there was nothing to distinguish this most momentous letter from
others which came to him by almost every post, or to indicate that it
was destined to change the whole current of his life. It was sent by
an unknown woman, and the object of the writer was, while expressing
intense admiration for Balzac's work, to criticise the view of the
feminine sex taken by him in "La Peau de Chagrin." His correspondent
begged him to renounce ironical portrayals of woman, which denied the
pure and noble role destined for her by Heaven, and to return to the
lofty ideal of the sex depicted in "Scenes de la Vie Privee."

This letter, which was addressed to Balzac to the care of Gosselin,
the publisher of "La Peau de Chagrin," has never been found. There
must have been something remarkable about the wording and tone of it;
as Balzac received many such effusions, but was so much impressed by
this one, and by the communications which followed, that he decided to
dedicate "L'Expiation" to his unknown correspondent. This story he was
writing when he received her first letter, and it formed part of the
enlarged edition of the "Scenes de la Vie Privee" which was published
in May, 1832. On communicating this project, however, to Madame de
Berny, she strongly objected to the offer of this extraordinary honour
to "L'Etrangere"; and now doubly obedient to her wishes, and anxious
not to hurt her feelings, he abandoned the idea after the book had
been printed. In January, 1833, in his first letter to Madame Hanska,
he explained the matter at length, and sent her a copy which had not
been altered, and which had her seal on the title-page. The book sent
her has disappeared; but examining some copies of the second edition
of the "Scenes," the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul found that a
page had been glued against the binding, and, detaching this
carefully, discovered the design of the wax seal, and the dedication
"Diis ignotis, 28th February, 1832,"[*] the date on which Balzac
received the first letter from "L'Etrangere."

[*] I have seen this.

This letter gave Balzac many delightful hours, as, when he was able to
write to her, he explained to Madame Hanska. In his pride and
satisfaction, he showed